American Boys Handy Book

First published in 1882, this book contains a wealth of projects and games, with practical directions on how to make them, by one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America. This is the ultimate pre-TV, anti-couch potato activity book. Ages 10 and up.

The Handy Book was the perfect survival manual. It contained plans for 16 kinds of kits and hot-air balloons and fishing tackle. It told you how to make and stock an aquarium, to construct a water telescope and how to camp out without a tent. Or in a hut made from pine boughs. How to build 10 kinds of boats, including a flatboat with a covered cabin. Iceboats, too. One-person canoes. Bird calls. Squirt guns with astonishing range and authority.

– Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun Times

One of our son’s favorites – a great resource for any boy or girl who loves to do things outdoors.